The technical scope of the present invention is that of devices enabling a mounted field weapon to be supplied with propellant charges in a given quantity.
It is known to supply a weapon using propellant charge modules generally grouped by six. According to operational needs, a certain number of modules, for example between three and six, must be used. It is thus necessary for the set of modules to be split and the required number removed. These selection operations are very difficult to manage when the modules are not physically linked together and quickly become unmanageable when the charge modules are supplied to the operators already linked.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,159 describes an automatic pick up system for separate propellant charge modules stored in a magazine. No indication is given in this patent on the subsequent handling of these modules.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,904 describes a device to supply field artillery with ammunition elements constituted by a projectile and separate propellant charge modules. In this device, the magazine is fitted with a lift enabling the removal of the number of modules required to be used.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,923 describes a transfer device for the separate modules constituting the propellant charge to take them from a storage magazine to a system to load these modules into the chamber of a piece of field artillery. This device provides for the removal of all the modules stored in one row of the magazine indifferently.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,163 describes a system to load propellant charge modules into a cannon, such modules being taken from a storage container. However, in this patent, the modules are stored in individual compartments and are taken in such numbers as required by the user. In other words, the modules are separated in the magazine but are then linked before loading.
As may be seen from these patents, the propellant charge modules are available separately in fixed quantities determined by the size of the artillery cannon magazine, and are then grouped together to be loaded in the cannon. None of these patents deals with the case of modules that are delivered already linked and which necessarily require separation afterwards for the required number to be taken.